Bruce Banner X Reader

Chapter 23

Third Person POV

After Tony clears all the guests from the tower, he reunites with his fellow Avengers in the meeting room. 

"What have we found out so far?" He asks, taking a seat next to Natasha.

"She was drugged, we found a needle not far from the strap off her dress." Bruce informs him, "We tested it and it was a sedative, she's probably going to be knocked out for about three hours." Bruce doesn't look well, it's only been two hours since y/n's kidnapping, but he's worried. 

"Do you have any idea who could've done it?" Steve speaks up, after having just walked in.

"I have a few suspects," Bruce gestures to a screen behind him, which is displaying a picture of a younger looking man with shoulder length auburn hair. "The first is Sam Pepper, he's trained with special forces and would probably have access to drugs like the one used on y/n. He left early, claiming he had to look after his kids."

"It's not him." Tony states, "I've known him a long time, he wouldn't hurt anyone." Bruce nods and changes the slide, the photo changes to a man who looks slightly older than the last, he has short dark brown hair and wears a pair of rectangular glasses. He doesn't look like he'd be strong enough to be able to kidnap someone, but has an evil glint in his eye.

"Dylan Borg. This guy is probably my biggest suspect. We don't know anything about him, and I talked to The Chronicle and they said he doesn't work there, I also checked the guest list and it surprised me that he wasn't on it, meaning he got in here without being seen." 

"We need to find out more about this man," Thor says, "I need to find y/n and tell her I am sorry."

"Guys," Bucky says quietly from the corner where he's sat, the colour drained from his face. Nobody appears to hear him, so he says it again louder, "Guys."

"What is it?" Tony snaps, making Bucky jump slightly and pause for a moment, "Well?"

Bucky doesn't say anything, but turns his phone for Tony to see. At first, Tony doesn't understand what's going on, all he can see is blood, and a lot of it. When he realises that it's y/n, his face turns as pale as Bucky's, and he slumps back in his chair, shocked. 

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on," Bruce says, with a tinge of fear in his voice. 

"It's y/n, she's in a lot more trouble than we first thought." Tony replies.

"What do you mean?" 

"She's..." Tony pauses, not wanting to hurt his best friend, "She's being hurt Bruce, badly hurt. We need to find her now." 

Bruce goes quiet and begins pacing back and forth, running his hands through his dark hair. There's about an hour of silence, but suddenly Bruce gasps, and sits down in front of his laptop, creating some confusion within the group.

"Bruce what is it?" Nat asks, and when he doesn't reply, she walks over and stands behind him. "You're a very smart man aren't you Banner."

"What's he done?" Tony looks at the computer but still looks confused. "I don't get it."

"It's the locket Tony," Nat rolls her eyes, "When me and Bruce designed the locket, we installed a tracking device in case she didn't die and something like this happened."

Bruce stands up suddenly, knocking his chair over as he does. "I found her," His body relaxes slightly, "We need to go."

"Avengers, suit up." Steve says, before leaving to get ready, he's followed by Bucky, then Loki, and eventually the rest of the team, except for Tony and Bruce.

"Bruce, you don't have to come, I know it's going to be-"

"No," Bruce cuts him off, "I want to see her." 

Tony nods, he can see how scared Bruce is so he pulls him into a hug. "She's going to be okay Bruce. We're going to save her."

Half an hour later, and the team are assembled on the roof, they're going to take the helicarrier, since y/n's being held in what seems to be an old military base in the woods. As they load onto the ship, Tony explains the plan,

"From what we know, this man is plain mad, and he's probably working by himself, but when we get closer, if we see that there are more agents, we land somewhere else and come up with a more civilised plan, but for now, we're gonna storm in there and beat the crap out of this guy." 

The ship begins to take off, and Tony takes a seat in between Bruce and Bucky.

He turns to face Bruce, and says quietly to him, "Listen, I know it's hard for you to sit and do nothing, but we don't want the big guy to come out, so I want you here on the ship-"

"Tony please I just want to-"

"No Bruce," Tony puts both hands on his shoulders, "I'll tell you when you can come in and bring her out while we're busy with this Dylan guy, then you'll get to see her and bring her to the ship, okay?"

"Okay," He says, defeated but he accepts it.

Bucky taps Tony gently on the shoulder so he turns around, Bucky looks stressed, but he's trying to hide it, probably from Bruce. To prevent bringing attention to himself, he doesn't say anything, just hands Tony his phone again and turns to talk to Steve. Tony looks at the screen, and tries to hide his disgusted face when he reads a message from an unknown number. It reads: 'Bring me all of the private S.H.I.E.L.D files on the Avengers or I'll kill her.'  He attached a photo of a terrified looking y/n, her almost fully exposed body covered in bruises and cuts. Beside her, a table covered in all sorts of torturous instruments that could only bring agonizing pain to the victim. 

Tony can't help but feel responsible. Responsible for thinking this man was genuine. Responsible for believing him when he said he had to leave for 'business reasons'. He has to try so hard not to cry in front of Bruce, what would he think if he saw what was happening to her. 

"Tony?" Nat says from the other side of the ship, "We're here."

"Can you see any agents?" He asks, snapped out of his worried state.

"None." She sounds confident, and Tony can see that Bruce looks nervous, so he responds just as confidently. 

"Good, we'll land about 200 metres away, then enter on foot." Nat nods, and walks to near the front of the ship to grab a gun and Bucky follows. "Bruce, remember, stay here please, it'll be safer for y/n."

"I know," He nods, "But please don't let that man get away with this."

"We definitely won't" Tony smiles. The ship begins it's descent, and lands gently, crushing a few trees in the process. The team gets ready to go, and one by one stem out of the ship. Before she leaves, Nat turns to him and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"She's coming home for Christmas Bruce," She hugs him, "It's all going to be okay," Then she leaves. And Bruce is left on his own. It's dark outside, and a thick layer of snow covers the ground, reminding him of what day it is. So much for a good Christmas Eve.